The Codex: An Angel's Guide To Seducing A Human (30 page)

Gore covered the wall, painting the entire room red and black. The sight made my stomach uneasy.
What happened here?

The Codex shrieked. 
Run! Wait, grab the sword first! Grab it then run! We saw nothing! We touched nothing! We know nothing!

I slapped the Codex.
 Quiet.

She moaned and grumbled under her breath. 
When did you become Emily? Violence is not the answer! Look what happened here!

Turning my attention back to the room, I covered my mouth at the sight of several corpses that had exploded from within.

The few bodies near the window had their skins peeled off, making it difficult to recognize them as humans. A sense of horror crept along my wings, and I thought about leaving. However, before I could act, something else caught my eye. At the far end of the room, two guards slumped against the bedpost. Whatever killed them left their bodies intact. Dead hands still grasped at their swords. Parts of their white tabards were drenched with blood, but the only other signs of violence on the bodies were a pair of arrows, one sticking out from each man's neck. Beyond them sat the prince in a wheeled chair, his sword impaled in his sternum. His chest slowly rose and fell as he breathed with a gurgling hiss.

“Are you here… to take me away? To paradise?” he asked through labored breaths. Pain glazed his green eyes. "So, this is how it ends. All because I wanted to wet my spear on the stunning angel."

He seemed to be in great pain. I had to do something. I gripped the sword and pulled it out from his stomach. As expected, the blade remained pristine.

I tossed the sword away before it could speak to me, and I laid my hand over Kale's wound. The warm glow of my magic seeped into him, and the wounds began knitting themselves together. But before I could finish, Kale let out a final gasp, his eyes bulged and sagged with the rest of his body.

I bowed my head and gave a short prayer for the newly departed soul. Picking the blade up from the ground with one hand, I closed Kale's eyes with the other. 
I hope he is reborn into a better life next time.

Ha! 
a young girl's voice shouted inside my head. 
The way he treated women, I am surprised someone didn't drive a pike through his balls!

I frowned at the sword. 
Who are you?

I am Castilia, one of the named swords of Arudi, Lord and Protector of Order!

The Codex snorted. 
More like a violent metal stick.

Silence, slut!
 Castilia's voice rang inside my head, making me wince.

What did you call me?

Slut! You Codices are all the same, always wanting your angel to seduce someone. Hump this, hump that! If you could, I bet you would all spread your pages wide open and let anything defile your unattractive, dusty—

Shut up, you stupid rusty pole pipe! Don't you know that a book is mightier than a sword? And for your information, we are the guardians of knowledge. Without us, there wouldn't be a civilization, you pot-metal harridan. And we will gladly spread our pages to anyone that wants us!

The sword sniggered. 
Of course. I wouldn’t expect anything lower from your kind, whore.

Come at me, bitch! I'll show you how low you can go.

I grabbed the two holy objects and slammed them together. The voices inside my head quieted. 
So, Castilia, can you tell me what happened?
 I asked.

I don't know.

The Codex snorted. 
Who cares? Let's just dump her here and go. I don’t like the way she talks. Leave her with the dead. You already have a halberd, and he certainly doesn't talk back like her.

W-wait! Hold on a second! Ah... it's all coming back to me! Yes! Very clear!

I scratched the back of my head. 
So, do you remember who your companion was?

Err… no. Aside from the few memories of Lord Arudi, my earliest memory is of falling from the sky and narrowly missing the perverted prince’s balls. But hey—you are an angel. Take me back up to heaven!

Unwilling to leave the sword behind, I strapped the holy blade and her scabbard to my side and wrapped it with the chain that held the Codex. Ignoring the book's complaint, I walked towards the window and gave one last look at the dead humans behind me. 
I'll take you there once I am done with my current task. By the way, who did this?

The sword shivered against my side and spoke with a nervous voice. 
It happened so fast. One moment, Prince Charming was hiring some thugs to kidnap a witch named Emily. The next moment, the window opens up, arrows fly in, and an elf with a battered Grimoire kills everyone inside with his foul magic.

I clenched my hands into fists. 
Mafis... Emily was right. He is in the city. Did he say anything?

No, not really. Just kept mumbling about retrieving the other half.

Emily

“You’re late, Mafis," I said, clutching the Grimoire that Narius had left behind. Strangely enough, the container must have had some sort of spell as I did not feel the rush to break it open to read the book. "I thought you would be here to collect the book days ago.” I glanced at the pillow underneath the blanket. 
It’s a good thing Narius thinks he is so bright. He probably thought this was a flawless plan.

Mafis dipped his head slightly in a mocking gesture, his half of the Grimoire dangling at his side. “You humans and your time. Heliose had asked me to take care of a minor problem first. But that doesn't matter.” He stretched his arms out and laughed. “Soon, I'll do everything I always wanted to do with Filia! Go out for a long stroll in the forest. Take her to Shovelface. My daughter is coming back to life!”

A fragmentary memory of my father pushing me on a swing flashed through my mind. "That would be nice.”

Mafis smiled. “We are so close. Now, the book, please. You are doing the right thing. A demon to provide happiness for both of us.”

I clenched my fist. 
The right thing. Happiness. Is it worth it? Is getting a book worth killing? Can I really kill an insane elf?
I let out a long breath.
What about Heliose? If I do this, I'm really betraying Narius. But do I have any other choice? How long can I keep this up? Maybe I should stop. Just tell Narius the truth. Or I could just give Mafis the book and hope nothing bad will happen.

The elf, noticing my hesitation, held his hand out. “Please. It's for my daughter.”

Damn it all.
 I closed my eyes and tossed the cube towards the elf’s feet. It shattered against the floor. Immediately, a pleasant aroma reached my nose. I opened my eyes and found myself reaching down to the book, wanting nothing more than to read and savor it. Trying to control my desire, I held myself back as Mafis, with dark smoke rising from his hand, fused the two halves into one, creating a complete and flawless tome.

Seeing the book in its whole glory made me shiver with glee.

Dark smoke erupted from it and brushed against me, tempting me to come closer.

I took several deep breaths to control my urges to stroke the book. I cast my eyes to the ground. There, I gazed at the shards of broken glass and saw my reflection. My eyes were red again, probably thanks to being exposed to the Grimoire in all its glory. I felt filthy, like I needed to take a bath, yet powerful and complete. 
No. This doesn't feel wrong at all. It feels... right. Yes. I deserve to have that book. No one else does.

The elf flipped through the book. "Looks like everything is in order. But there is this one last thing."

I smiled, ready to take the book for myself, but a thought held me back. 
I need to find out where Heliose is before I kill Mafis. Otherwise, I will be spending days looking for him. Keep it together. I have more than enough time to listen. Just imagine what Narius would be like once he learns I've stopped the demon from being summoned. He would be too grateful to care about what I am or that I took the book for myself.
 "What can I do for you?"

"Now that we have everything in place, Heliose needs you to provide the power."

I gripped my staff and stared at the orb, reflecting my crimson eyes. 
Interesting. So they can't do this without me. Well... I guess it isn't too surprising since Narius did mention that there should be a power source.
 Feigning a shocked face, I asked. “Me? But... but... isn't the book enough?”

“Not by a long shot. Now that we have enough of the book for our purposes, we need someone of demon's blood. But, we don't need you right away. The ritual will take a few more days to set up in the Cathedral."

"Oh? Which one?"

"The one belonging to Halfaya."

I stepped closer to Mafis, my staff silently filling up with enough power to kill the elf in one stroke. Perhaps encouraged by my desire to end him, dark smoke curled off my fingertips, immobilizing Mafis by binding his limbs. The elf jerked, trying to break free from the tendrils that surrounded him, but failed. I smirked at his helplessness. He looked like an insect that needed to be crushed. "That's all I need from you."

The elf tried once more to escape, but the shadows bound his feet to the floor. He laid his hand on the Grimoire, probably hoping it would save him, but the book remained motionless, offering no assistance. With his eyes twitching, he shouted, "What are you doing? Stop!"

"This is the end. You will die here. Goodbye—"

The curtains of the open window blew straight in, and Narius landed between me and Mafis, the side of his face and clothes covered with dried blood.

Narius held a white blade, identical to Prince Kale's sword. He raised the sword with one hand at the elf and screamed, "Get back, Emily!"

Before I could react, he wrapped his free arm around my waist and pulled me back behind his wings.

With the angel next to me, I hesitated, and Mafis, now free from my smoke, grabbed the Grimoire and made a run for it. He bashed the door open and ran out.

Narius, with the immediate threat gone, turned his head slowly to look at me. “Emily, stay right here. I’ll deal—”

Before he could have the chance, I grabbed Narius’s waist and held him in place, my head buried against his wings.

Narius paused for a moment. "What are you doing?"

"Don’t move!” 
I can't let you hunt down Mafis.

To my relief, Narius sheathed his sword. He turned around to look at me, but I kept my head lowered. "Are you hurt?" He grasped my shoulders. “Emily, did he hurt you?”

I remained silent. I couldn’t let him see my eyes.

Narius gritted his teeth. “I'll find him and throw him into a cell."

"No!" I clung to his chest, my hands trembling with the fear of what would happen if he caught up with the elf. Everything would be ruined if Narius learned I was trying to kill Mafis for the book.

Narius gently brushed my hair. "Emily, it’s all right. I'll be right back."

I held onto his body as wisps of corruption seeped out of the room through the window. "Please, can… can you just stay with me? I-I'm scared." 
I need to kill them all before you figure it out.

Narius tried to lift my head to make me look at him, but I resisted.

"What's going on, Emily? Did he poison—"

The house shook, releasing dust from the ceiling to fall down like yellow snow. Narius and I swayed as the windows rattled and cracks spread across the glass.

For a split-second, everything became quiet. Then something outside exploded, and I felt myself being lifted from the floor.

Narius tackled me and covered us with his wings, pushing us away from the window.

The windows behind us shattered.

Time seemed to crawl. A broken frame of the window flew off and struck Narius in the head.

Immediately, Narius's arms lost their strength and slipped away from me. He fell to the floor with hundreds of tiny cuts and glass on his unarmored back. Narius lay unmoving, blood pooling around him.

The strength in my legs vanished as I stared at him, trying to understand what had just happened.
Narius?

A woman’s voice, full of hatred, screeched into the room. "Get away from him, demonspawn!" A blonde angel glared at me, her cold blue eyes filled with hatred. The angel's halo shone brightly, matching the dazzling reflection of the setting sun on her wings. Much like Narius, she wore a cuirass and a Codex of her own attached by a chain to the waist of her armor. Behind her hovering form, the outside wall of my room was completely demolished.

Folding her wings, she landed in front of me, fury drawn all over her face. "I felt my trap activate and this is what I find."

“Trap?” I asked. "You were the one who gave the book to the arena?"

"My plans do not concern you." Her blue eyes stared at me then glowed white with magic. "Silence."

My mouth clamped shut, and I could not move my body. I stood there, helpless, watching the angel kneel next to Narius and touch his cheeks in a loving manner. “Narius, are you all right?”